Check out the final program for the Participatory Budgeting Conference

There are still a few spots open for the International Conference on Participatory Budgeting in the US and Canada, so if you plan to join us in New York at the end of the month, now’s the time to register. Registration is a sliding scale between $10 and $50, which is pretty amazing.

The conference (which NCDD is co-sponsoring) is taking place March 30-31 in New York City, and you can learn more at www.pbconference.wordpress.com. If you’re not all that familiar with Participatory Budgeting, look over Tom Atlee’s post about PB for a brief overview and compilation of some resources to check out. PB is a huge growth area right now in the participation world, so I do recommend NCDD members get involved if they can.

Click here to see the program. I’ll be co-presenting on the 31st with Erik Olin Wright of the University of Wisconsin Madison and Michael Lipsky of Demos. Here is the description of our session, titled “Budgeting for Democracy”:

What does participatory budgeting mean for the future of democracy? PB is part of a broader constellation of local democratic practices that are spreading across North America and the world. In this session, leading thinkers and actors will discuss broader movements to deepen democracy and open up budgeting, and what they can teach us about PB.

NCDDers who will be at the conference should let me know if you haven’t already. I hope to get NCDDers together for breakfast or drinks sometime during the event — but if we can’t swing that we’ll at least know to look for each other and touch base whenever we can!

Here’s a bit more detail about the event:

This first regional conference on Participatory Budgeting will be a space for participants and organizers of the initial processes in the US and Canada to share and reflect on their experiences so far, alongside interested activists, practitioners, and scholars. Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It gives people the power to make real decisions over the budgets that affect their lives–and after 20 years of worldwide practice, it’s now making waves in the US and Canada!

Highlights include:

• Site Visits to Observe PB Voting in NYC
• Presentations on PB processes in New York, Chicago, Toronto Community Housing, Guelph, Montreal, Porto Alegre, the UK, and elsewhere
• Sessions on State and Regional PB, Youth Engagement, PB in Community Organizations, e-Participatory Budgeting, Community Organizing, Arts & Culture, Public Housing, and more.
• Focused discussions for elected officials, researchers, and community organizations
• Discussions framing PB within urban planning and within movements for social, political and economic change.

Speakers include:

• Council Member Brad Lander, New York City
• Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, New York City
• Council Member Jumaane Williams, New York City
• Council Member Eric Ulrich, New York City
• Alderman Joe Moore, Chicago
• Erik Olin Wright, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Cezar Busatto, Municipal Secretary for Political Coordination and Local Governance, City of Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Yves Cabannes, University College London
• Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Brown University & The Participatory Budgeting Project
• Giovanni Allegretti, University of Coimbra, Portugal
• Jez Hall, The PB Unit, UK
• Josh Lerner, The Participatory Budgeting Project
• Mike Menser, Brooklyn College & The Participatory Budgeting Project
• Rachel LaForest, The Right to the City Alliance
• Sondra Youdelman, Community Voices Heard
• Sandy Heierbacher, National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation
• Caron Atlas, Arts & Democracy Project

Organizers:

Pratt Institute, Programs in Sustainable Planning and Development
The Participatory Budgeting Project
Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College (CUNY)

Co-Sponsors:

Arts and Democracy Project
Demos
Fund for Democratic Communities
The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation
Planners Network
The Public Philosophy Network
The Right to the City Alliance

Locations:

New York City: Pratt Institute (Brooklyn), Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, and other locations throughout the city

Registration:

Registration is open on our website–but space is running out, so please reserve your spot soon! There is a sliding scale conference fee, from $10 for low-income people to $50 for full registration.

For more details please visit www.pbconference.wordpress.com, or email [email protected].

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